


Late

by holtzbabe



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/F, Holtz puts a lot of effort into all that she's got going on, Implied Sexual Content, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-08-10 00:06:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7822522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/holtzbabe/pseuds/holtzbabe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have a routine every morning. Erin likes routine, and so does Holtzmann. It’s unclear how exactly this particular routine came to be. It just sprung up after countless mornings of waking up in the same bed in Holtz’ apartment. They are a well-oiled machine.</p>
<p>Until today.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Late

They have a routine every morning. Erin likes routine, and so does Holtzmann. It’s unclear how exactly this particular routine came to be. It just sprung up after countless mornings of waking up in the same bed in Holtz’ apartment.

It’s always Holtz’ apartment. Erin likes it so much better than her own. When she goes back to her place, she stares at the white walls and the white sheets on her bed—perfect hotel tucks—and the distinct lack of ‘lived-in’ that permeates every corner, and she just feels sad and longs for the gentle chaos that is Holtzmann.

Holtz always wakes up first. She’s got an evil circadian rhythm that tells her to go to bed at 1:00am and wake up at 5:30am. Every day, on the dot. She’s a human alarm clock. She used to use her extra awake hours to work, but now she spends her mornings holding Erin and memorizing everything from the shape of the birthmark on her shoulder blade to the temperature of her skin, always a few degrees cooler than Holtzmann’s. She commits it all to memory so she’ll never forget, no matter what happens.

At 6:30am, she wakes Erin by kissing her forehead, combing her fingers through Erin’s hair, and singing quietly in her ear. It’s a new song every morning. She loves routine, but not that much. The songs change depending on her mood. Sometimes she’s chomping at the bit to get to work, so she’ll sing a happy and mildly irritating tune to get Erin to wake up faster. One day, she sang not four seconds of _It’s a Small World_ and Erin was already sitting up in bed and shoving Holtz to get her to shut up. Other days, she’s not in any rush to get on with her morning, so she’ll sing a soft and sweet melody, and Erin will curl in closer to her and give her a sleepy kiss before she’s even opened her eyes.

They stay in bed for 10 minutes after that. Not talking, just lying there and enjoying each other’s company. At 6:40am, they both get out of bed. Holtz heads straight for the bathroom and showers, which takes her until 6:45am. They swap places and Erin showers while Holtz picks her outfit for the day. This takes 15 minutes. She puts a lot of effort into looking effortless.

At 7:00am, Erin, showered and dressed, blow-dries her hair and does her makeup while Holtzmann heads to the kitchen and starts the coffee machine. Neither of them enjoy breakfast food that much, so she usually pops a few slices of bread in the toaster and that’s it. She returns to the bathroom balancing two mugs of coffee and a plate of toast just as Erin zips up her makeup bag. Erin takes one of the mugs and a slice of toast, kisses Holtz briefly, and takes her breakfast to the living room to watch the morning news.

By this point, it’s 7:20am, and Holtzmann’s hair will take the remaining 40 minutes until they leave. It’s a 12 step process that involves a curling iron, four strategically placed mirrors, three dozen bobby pins, and a bottle of hairspray that Erin is convinced she bought on the black market, because it makes her hair immovable while still remaining feather soft. It’s like witchcraft: the way she manages to get hair that hangs past her shoulders into a gravity-defying masterpiece that looks effortless, like she styled it in two minutes or even didn’t style it at all.

Erin loves that she knows the truth, and she especially loves how she’s the only one who has seen Holtz with her hair down. And God, does she ever love Holtz with her hair down. She never gets tired of running her fingers through the wavy blonde locks, crimped where the pins were.

At 8:00am, Erin shuts off the TV, Holtz emerges from the bathroom with her hair complete, and the pair head off to work.

This is their routine. Every morning after Erin spends the night, which is most days. They are a well-oiled machine.

Until today.

Today, before Holtz has even opened her eyes, she can sense that something is wrong. When she hazards opening one eye, she realizes that there is light streaming in through the curtains. There should not be light. She rolls over and reaches for Erin’s phone on the nightstand to check the time.

_8:37am_

She blinks several times trying to clear the sleep from her eyes. She’s always had mild dyslexia, so for a few seconds she thinks she must be reading the time wrong. Either that or Erin’s phone is broken. Then her eyes drift to the notifications.

One missed call from Abby, and another from the firehouse phone line.

One text from Patty: _Where tf are you? Abby is freaking. Y’all better be okay_

Holtzmann rolls back so she’s facing Erin and she starts shaking her shoulder. There’s no time for the usual wake-up. Erin startles awake, blinking and disoriented.

“We overslept,” Holtz says.

Erin’s brow furrows. “What?”

“It’s almost nine. Call Abby.” Holtz shoves the phone into Erin’s hand and throws the covers off. She bolts for the bathroom. As late as they are, she can’t forgo a shower, especially not after last night. She pauses just inside the doorframe, her pulse starting to race as she remembers what caused them to oversleep. She turns back and takes in Erin, sitting up in bed now with the sunlight illuminating her bare body, and she can’t help but let her lips curl up into a smug smirk.

Erin looks just as satisfied with the situation as she lifts the phone to her ear. “Hey, Abby. We’re okay. I’m sorry for scaring you. Uh…we…uh, overslept. A lot.” She coughs. “We had a late night.”

Understatement. By the time they fell asleep, it was well into the morning.

Holtz darts into the shower and takes a record two minutes. She emerges and grabs the first clothes that her hands touch. Erin pushes past her and takes a five-minute shower as opposed to her usual 15 while Holtz blow-dries her hair.

“My hair,” Holtz whines as Erin buttons up her shirt.

“What about it?”

“There’s no time to do it.”

Erin’s heart falls a little at the thought that soon she won’t be the only one who has seen Holtz’ hair down. But then she brightens when she realizes she’ll get to see it all day.

She leaves her own hair to air-dry and when they step out onto the street, her face is makeup-free. Holtz takes her hand, and they take off, running and giggling, Holtz’ hair blowing free behind her just like her long coat, and Erin decides that they should oversleep more often.

Even if Patty and Abby _do_ spend the rest of the week teasing them.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a Tumblr prompt to write about Holtz not having enough time to do her hair, and I kinda ran with it, oops.


End file.
